. thats for joining us at 6. he's off tonight and minutes ago, president obama addressed the nation regarding the status of the fiscal cliff talks. now, this comes after a late afternoon meeting with the top four congressional leaders. fox 5s audrey barnes has been monitoring this in our

newsroom. what did the president have to say? >> reporter: we're going get to the president's remarks in just a moment. first, we want to backtrack and tell but that last-hour summit with four senior lawmakers. they were called to the white house for discussions today at 3:00 p.m. and guy 4:15, it was all -- by 4:15, it was all over. nancy pelosi left the meeting without making a comment but harry reid headed to the senate floor to address members of congress&so did mitch mcconnell. both men described the negotiations as positive and constructive and say the next 24 hours are critical. >> we are engaged in discussions. the majority leader and myself and the white house in the hopes that we can come forward as early as sunday and have a recommendation that i can make to my conference and the majority leader can make to his conference. so, we'll be working hard to see if we can get there in the next 24 hours.

>> whatever we come up with is going to be imperfect. some people are not going like it, some people will like less, but that is where we are. and i feel confident that we have an obligation to do the best we can. >> reporter: as tom mentioned, just a few moments ago, we heard from the president, too, on his prospects for keeping the nation from plummeting off the fiscal cliff. >> if an agreement is not reached in time between senator reid and senator mcconnell, then i will urge senator reid to bring to the floor a basic package for an up-or-down vote, one that protects the middle class from an income tax hike, extends the vital lifeline of unemployment insurance to 2 million americans looking for a job, and lays the groundwork for future cooperation on more economic growth and deficit reduction. >> reporter: house speaker john boehner was at the white house summit. so far, he's not made a statement about the measures

discussed. we're hearing the president does did not float a new deal but reiterated his calls to extend tax cuts for people making less than $250,000 he also wants to extend unemployment benefits for 2 million people and delay $110 billion in sequester cuts and that is a story we'll follow all weekend long. back to you in the studio. >> and thank you very much. essentially, we remain in a stalemate tonight and congress returned yesterday to the senate, the house will be back on monday and they have three days to work it out. and turning our attention to the other big story to the day. snow coming to the d.c. area and should start to see the white stuff coming overnight. gary mcgrady is joining us now. how much can we expect? >> reporter: not a lot. pardon me, tom. but we will have a little bit coming on across and looks like an accumulation here in the city. first of all, i want to assure you that this is not a big storm and it's not going have a

great impact o cross the area now. and the in fact that it's coming on a saturday is going to be, help us quite a bit, you know. you don't necessarily have to get out. most of us don't with minimal commuting to be done. the snow is arriving for everyone before sunrise. it's going to be be snow and then snow and rain for d.c. and looks like a changeover to mostly rain. the highest accumulation to the north-northwest, which is very typical around here. and all of the precip, it looks like it will taper off late day. we have a winter weather advisory and that is in the first full forecast coming up, tom? >> thank you very much, gary. you can remember get your weather all the time anywhere, any time on the fox 5 weather app. download it on your droid,. >> i joy pad or. >> i joy phone. search d.c. weather in the app store and text fox 5 weather to 29473. a traffic alert for you out of montgomery county tonight

where police have just reopened a portion of the rockville pike. it was closed for much of the day following a serious accident. it happened around 10:30 this morning. the driver was heading southbound when he crossd into the northbound lanes and kept going and he crashed into four cars. the driver of the station wagon was critically hurt. four other people, including the driver of the volkswagon and a passenger were hurt and taken to the hospital for treatment. new at 6 tonight, a woman has been charged in connection with the christmas eve ambush slaying of two volunteer firefighters -- firefighters in upstate new york. state and federal authorities charged 24-year-old dawn newwith in rochester today. she faces a federal charge of knowingly making a false statement and falsifying a

business record and the charges are connected to a semi automatic rifle and used by william spengler in the shooting. two firefighters were killed and three wounded when he lit his house on fire and gunned down the first responders before turning that gun on himself. well, ports along the east coast and gulf coast will be there for 30 days. the u.s. maritime alliance and it was said to expire at 1 minute past midnight on sunday night and the two sides agree to extend the contract while negotiations continue. >> reporter: it would have cost more than $1 billion a day at the longshoreman's union and the u.s. maritime alliance representing the shipping companies did not come to the

temporary contract agreement. a federal mediator said, quote, the container royalty payment issue has been agreed upon in prince pa -- principle by the parties. subjects were achieving an overall collective bargaining agreement. at dispute, the wages and container royalty fees which, are salary supplements based on what east container weighs. the shipping companies wa to cap those at last year's level but the nearly 15,000 longshoremen didn't want to froze and what they consider not an extra, but a part of their salaries. the new contract is not agreed upon and imports and exports like electronics, non- perishable foods, auto parts, airline parts, computer components, tiled manufactured goods and clothing would not have left the ports. >> any type of work action that may result in a suspension or stoppage of work would have an adverse affect. >> tens of thousands of other workers handling freight that moves through the ports and

inland could have found themselves out of work and shipping costs would have risen, costing consumers. >> it's not just the local port area that would be affected by the strike, but the entire region and the state and going nationally as l. >> reporter: the strike would have crippled operations at all of those ports and those ports reflect about 40% of the goods consumed by u.s. consumers. phil keating, fox news, miami. coming up on the news edge at 6, it's one of the most attended gun shows on the east coast tonight. they met by protestors at the dulles expo center. people on both sides of the gun policy debate are saying two weeks after the tragedy in newtown, connecticut. >> closer to home, the big game on the way. what do you have? >> what game are we talking about? >> coming up in sports, it's dallas week and that means something. we'll hear from both sides on the biggest game ever sunday night at fed ex field and that

is later in sports. 

. thousands of gun enthusiasts are converging on northern virginia for a weekend gun show and that is already underway. despite recent mass shootings, there is a huge appetite for guns in this country. >> reporter: at this weekend's gun show in chantilly, virginia, both the dealers and their customers say that they're aware of the outcry of guns and gun violence in the country right now and are unapologetic in their thinking. >> any weapons? >> reporter: there are plenty of people here. hundreds were lined up and waiting outside two hours before the doors opened. >> one of the most heavily attended gun shows on the east coast. >> with all the political issues and all that, i think

there is more people not interested in guns before and they are now. >> reporter: and this is a collection. he's an aviation lawyer from new hampshire. >> as can you see from just the collection here, there is everything from antique black powder, musk rats and modern machine guns and everything in between. >> reporter: according to the new national polling, 92% of those surveyed support laws requiring background checks for anybody wanting to buy a firearm at a gun show like this >> why would we be interested and talking about legislation like that when the guns are coming from gun shows to begin, when .7% of guns used in crimes come from gun shows, so that is less than 1%. >> reporter: closing the so- called gun show loophole, one of the wishes of the group called code pink demonstrating outside. >> and we can't protect our children if we can't ban assault weapons and high-

velocity clips. >> reporter: in two national polls taken since the shooting at sandy hook elementary school, nearly half and the other, nearly 60% of those asked said they support some form of enhanced gun control in this country. >> and it's not going to work. it's something that they want to as assemble and a gun laying on the table is not going hurt it. it's not going to hurt anyone. >> reporter: in the last pew research poll, 75% of those survade said they keep a handgun or rifle in their home and this is another statistic from the new poll numbers: nearly three in four americans surveyed don't believe in an outright ban in gun ownership in this country. bob barnard, fox 5 news. still ahead on the news edge at 6, how you can protect yourself from the fiscal cliff. coming up after the break, we're joined by accountant gordon burnhart to talk about the looming deadline and how your wallet could be affected. 

. well, as the fiscal cliff looms, taxpayers are understandably keeping a close eye here in washington and others on their pocketbook across the country. many people believe that taxes are going to go up once the fiscal cliff is solved and how will the average american be affected by this? joining us now is gordon burnhart, a certified public accountant with burnhart wealth management. thank you for joining us. >> thank you, tom, how are you. >> so much of the uncertainty we heard from president leaves you to wonder what is the assessing in planning when you don't know about that in. >> and that is why that is important to plan. we have seen so much happen and people need to make sure they set aside the cash reserves and there is a lot of planning

opportunities and investors need to work with an advisor to make sure that all of those unforseen things are addressed so they can help, again, protect families. >> and there is only three days left, two days weekend days. are there things folks can do as we head toward the deadline to protect themes in yo there are a few things. obviously, you can't do going since the stock markets are closed on saturday and sunday. on monday, investors should look at their portfolio. capital gains rates, for example, the increasing -- maximum is increasing from 15% to 20%. an inventor, let's pick on apple, for example, popular stock. if they have huge gains in there, they should consider selling that this year at the low tax rates versus next year and that could increase. and that is only one, that is one of the things. >> and some of the tax rates, the top tax rate is would go scheduled to go from 35 to

39.6% and what can folks do to insulate themes? there ways to move parts around if they're going to get hit with a higher tax bracket? >> in previous years, we talked about the tax loss harvesting. this year, it's important to harvest games i mentioned earlier. with that ordinary tax rate increasing like that, a lot of investors love dividend yield paying stock and this year in 2012, those dividend-paying stocks, the investor was paying taxes at the rate of 15% and that is going to increase to 39.6% and if they're subject to the surtax, they're paying 3 times as much taxes on that dividend. >> and with three days left, there is a lot of stuff for folks to go over before the deadline. gordon, we appreciate you joining us tonight.

>> thank you, tom. we have a winter weather advisory and that is looking identical and not for the city right now of d.c. and not for fairfax county. minutegomery county, rockville, frederick county and some communities around there and to the west. all-included in the winter weather advisory now and if it changes a bit, it will come from the south to the east and this is why this is coming at us and that is looking like it will move in and about everyone is going to see snow around here. 38 now, gaithersburg down to freezeing. baltimore, 36 and monasses, 37 and win chester is sitting at 32 degrees and that is going to be cold enough to snow. okay, even though i don't

anticipate us getting down to froze negligent city, the upper levels of the atmosphere are cold enough to support snow and looks like, again, the snow arrives for everyone by sunrise and if you're south and east of d.c., it looks like primarily it may start as a morning mix and go to rain in the afternoon. late in the day tomorrow, by 5:00, the no is going to be all gone and how much snow are we anticipating? in typical fashion, the highest amounts of accumulation will be farther to the north and to the west. little, if any accumulation here and to prince georges county, i'm talking to and you along the i-95 corridor, generally a wet, sloppy, one to two inches. if you start getting them in montgomery county, more like two inches and as you

transition into the northwestern suburbs, frederick, western loudoun county to i-81, the rainfall could be from two to five inches of snow and into some higher elevations. 8:20 kickoff on sunday night and there is no snow, temperatures in the mid-30s and to freezeing by the end of the game. listen, here we go and in through the week. staying chilly the next few days. tom? >> thank you very much. coming up tonight, phoney romo -- tony romo had a bad track record. the cowboys quarterback coming into sunday's showdown on a roll. lindsay murphy is up next with the sports edge.

good evening, i'm lindsay murphy and bleats crunch numbers. no one 79 was the last time the

cowboys and redskins met. two-10, dallas' record in the final game of the regular season since 2000 and 1999, the last time the redskins won the division. november 22nd, the redskins beat the cowboys, 38-31 on thanksgiving day, the second straight win since the biweek and second consecutive game where robert griffin 3 threw four touchdown passes. sunday night, the redskins will do the nearly impossible and that is after starting season 3 and 6. the last team to do that, the 1996 jaguars. no doubt the players know how big the stage will be. >> and when i first saw it, was immediately put on notice that beating the cowboys is a priority around here and that is unlike anything i had in new york and that is a special game and special moment and that is going to go in the history books. >> i know we won in 99 and, you

know, there has been a lot of frustration and it's great for a change to play for a division toilets and knowing you are playing the post season game if you win the game. >> and tony romo has been anything but clutch in week 17 and since 2000, the nfl's worst record 2-10 and 1-5 and the winner go home game. sunday, it could be different. he has 17 touchdown passes and three interceptions over the last eight games. the cowboys head coach knows the high level of play needs to continue if the cowboys are to emerge victorious on sunday. >> and we're excited about the opportunity to go play the redskins and, you know, our players hear me say this a lot. regardless of where you're playing and who you're playing, you have to be your best. we'll try to do that and be our best in the preparation. >> and it was a rough season first virginia tech football team who barely earned a bowl bid by winning the final two games n. doing so, the hokies are the sixth program in

history to reach a bowl in 20 consecutive seasons. 6 and 6 is the worst record in 20 years. ties virginia tech and rutgers and in orlando. the second place from scrimmage, thomas not ready for the snap and sails by him and tries to track it down and is unable to make the recovery. green with the touchdown and right now, in the second quarter, virginia tech trails 10-0 and finally, wizards host the match tonight and. >> thank you very much, lindsay. tmz is next.